SOUND RECORDING: LAB

SINEWAVE

Sinewave is simplest and purest

form of sound
A completed cycle in one second is
called a frequency
Low frequency: bass
High frequency: treble
Sinewaves are electronically
generated, you wont hear a dog
barking pure sinewaves but all
sounds are a composition of many
sinewaves which are all at various
frequencies and amplitude.
 SOUND FREQUENCY
AND PITCH

Number of cycles per unit of time is called the

frequency. For convenience, frequency is most
often measured in cycles per second (cps) or the
interchangeable Hertz (Hz)
1000 Hz is often referred to as 1 kHz (kilohertz).
The range of human hearing in the young is
approximately 20 Hz to 20 kHz – the higher
number tends to decrease with age. It may be
quite normal for a 60 year old to hear a max. Of
16000 Hz.
Lower frequencies have longer wavelengths and
high frequencies have short wavelengths.
The sensation of a frequency is commonly referred
to as the pitch of a sound. A high pitch sound
corresponds to a high frequencies sound wave and
a low pitch sound corresponds to a low frequency
sound wave
PRINCIPLES OF SOUND
SPEED OF
SOUND

Like any wave, a sound wave doesn’t just stop when it reaches the end of the medium or when it
encounters an obstacle in its path. Rather, a sound wave will undergo certain behaviours when it
encounters the end of the medium or an obstacle. Possible behaviours include reflection off the
obstacle, diffraction around the obstacle, and transmission (accompanied by refraction) into the
obstacle or the new medium.
When a wave reaches the boundary between the one medium another medium, a portion of the
wave undergoes reflection and a portion of the wave undergoes transmission across the
boundary
THE DOPPLER
EFFECT
The Doppler effect is a means by
which wave properties
(specifically, frequencies) are
influenced by the movement of a
source or listener. When the
source of the waves is the moving
towards the observer, each
successive wave crest is emitted
from a position closer to the
observer than the crest of the
previous wave. It is named after
the Austrian physicist Christian
Doppler, who described the
phenomenon in 1842.
 SOUND
REFLECTION

For example, a hard material such as concrete is as dissimilar as can be to the air through which the sound moves;
subsequently, most of the sound wave is reflected by the walls and little is absorbed. Walls and ceilings of concert halls
are made softer materials such as fiberglass and acoustic tiles. These materials are more similar to air then concrete and
thus have a greater ability to absorb sound. This gives the room more pleasing acoustic properties.
Reflection of sound waves off of the surfaces can lead to one of two phenomena – an echo or a reverberation.
A reverberation often occurs in a small room with height, width, and length and the sound is prolonged.
Echoes occur when a reflected sound wave reaches the ear more then 0.1 seconds after the original sound wave was
heard.
 SOUND
DIFFRACTION

Diffraction describes how sound waves bend or change

direction, as they travel around the edges of
obstacles. Diffraction occurs in water waves, sound waves,
and light waves, but the amount of diffraction depends on
the size of the obstacle or opening in relation to the
wavelength of the wave. The sound waves bend around the
edges of walls and doorways until they travel toward the
person or thing you are speaking to, and is the same
principle when that person or object makes a noise back.
 SOUND
ABSORPTION

When a sound wave hits one of the surfaces of a room,

some of the sound energy is reflected back into the room
and some goes through the surface. Parts of the sound
wave energy are absorbed by conversion to heat energy in
the material, while the rest is transmitted through. Sound
absorption is the loss of sound energy when sound waves
comes into contact with an absorbent material such as
soft walls, floors and other objects, which the sound is not
reflected back.
 SOUND
REFRACTION

Sound refraction is the bending of waves when they enter a

medium where their speed is different. The amount of
reflection is dependent upon the dissimilarity of the
two media. It involves a change in the direction of waves as
they pass from one medium to another. Refraction is
accompanied by a change in speed and wavelength of the
waves. So if the media or its properties are changed, the
speed of the wave is changed.
REFRACTION
IN WATER
Sound waves are known to refract
when traveling over water. Even
though the sound wave is not exactly
changing media, it is traveling
through a medium with
varying properties; thus, the wave
will encounter refraction and change
its direction. Since water has a
moderating effect upon the
temperature of air, the air directly
above the water tends to be cooler
than the air far above the water.
Sound waves travel slower in cooler
air than they do in warmer air.
 SOUND REVERBERATION VS. ECHOES
REVERBERATION
Reverberation is a persistence
of sound after the sound is
produced. When a sound travels
in a space, the sound waves will
continuously reflect off the hard
wall, floor and ceiling surfaces
until it loses enough energy and
eventually die out.
ECHOES WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?
The difference is that a true echo is
An echo is a reflection of sound that
just a single reflection of the
arrives at the listener with a delay after
original sound whereas reverb
the direct sound. The delay is directly
sounds are when two sound waves
proportional to the distance of the
that were created from the same
reflecting surface from the source and
source combine as one very
the listener. Typical examples are the
prolonged sound wave.
echo produced by the bottom of a well,
by a building, or by the walls of an
enclosed room and an empty room.
TASCAM RECORDINGS
Research sound at different altitudes
INTERIOR RECORDING
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CANTEEN
In the canteen, conversations from the students in the room
are captured. There are also slight echoes here when there
are large groups speaking at the same time. As this
environment could be a good place for some ambient sound,
there is a distracting loud pitched sound in the background
that is heard almost immediately. When setting up the
equipment, I would need to consider which would be
appropriate to use to get rid of the high pitched sound in the
background. As this area has no soft material, there is nothing
to absorb the sound to make it less echoey, apart from the
sound absorbing frames that are hanging on the ceiling.
INTERIOR RECORDING
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MUSIC ROOM
This room was the most successful in recording sound as the
sounds of the drums were clear without any unwanted
ambient sounds. The Tascam was placed on a table nearby to
prevent any moving sounds. There was soft material in this
room such as carpets to help absorb sound and prevent any
echoes where sound would bounce off the hard materials.
There is also a lower ceiling on one side of the room where
the sound seems more louder in that area compared to the
area where the ceiling is higher.
INTERIOR RECORDING
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STAIRCASE
This area of the school is particularly very echoey. It would
require specific equipment for it to cancel out the echoes as
much as it can, for example they can add in Styrofoam blocks
to help absorb sound as it is a soft material and everything in
the staircase has hard material which allows the sound to
bounce off the walls. There were also sounds of the
movements of the microphone, this could be fixed by keeping
the microphone still in one place, or on a moveable stand
where the rustling noises would be kept on a minimum
EXTERIOR RECORDING
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CONCOURSE
This was recorded outside the school building with students
around. It captures many ambient sounds such as the birds,
wind and people speaking. It would be ideal for it to use
equipment such as a boom pole to capture what is
underneath the mic rather than the other noises in the
background which is unwanted, this focuses the mic on just
the person under the mic which can prevent other sounds
being captured with it.
EXTERIOR RECORDING
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WALKWAY
For this recording, it captured some noise of the rain hitting
the umberella, but the most distracting noise that was
captured was the wind as we were walking while using the
tascam to record the sound. We could also hear peoples
voices get louder and then quieter as they walk past the
Tascam. The wind noises are unwanted as it seems to have
been the loudest sounds and covers most of the sounds that
was meant to be recorded.
EXTERIOR RECORDING
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FIELDS
This area has captured ambient sounds such as birds. This
recording is less loud compared to a roadside due to there
being no traffic or car noises. It would be an appropriate place
to record things such as interviews as there are no specific
sounds that are distracting. The bird sounds in the
background can make the setting more natural when
recording in this area. There are very faint distant traffic
sounds which can be made more faint when the mic is faced
away from the road to focus on sound that is behind it.